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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22900630">cupid</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/nohyukc/pseuds/nohyukc'>nohyukc</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>boy in jeans [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>NCT (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Coming of Age, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gay, I never know how to tag my fics, M/M, Mark Lee (NCT) is Whipped, One Shot, Self-Discovery, Sneaking Out, lapslock, lmfao that tag will always describe my fics</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 12:35:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,229</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22900630</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/nohyukc/pseuds/nohyukc</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>donghyuck is patient, awfully understanding of the conditions he and mark has set up in order to see each other, to be seen by each other</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>boy in jeans [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1646041</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>51</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>cupid</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>11:06 PM. and it starts with six unread texts from kang mina.</p><p> </p><p>mark dismisses them all, of course. she isn't his priority at the moment. the last thing on his mind, really.</p><p> </p><p>he is sitting alone at the baseball field, a fond place of familiarity (not to be confused with a fondness of the sport itself but rather a boy).</p><p> </p><p>he huffs out a startled "fuck!" when he anxiously checks his phone over and over to check the time and is instead met with mina's glowing contact photo. although he knows he is by himself, he cranes his head right, left, up and back down searching for any sign of another human being, or maybe an alien. luckily, it's neither.</p><p> </p><p>he sets his phone on silent.</p><p> </p><p>mark is definitely paranoid. no matter how many times he makes it out here, his heart still races like it was the first. he questions his conscience. maybe the pitch black sky seems to be preying on him, threatening to swallow him whole as he is anticipating some company. he shivers.</p><p> </p><p>11:19 PM. one missed call, four new unread texts. surprisingly, none from his best friend that can explain why he's late <em>this</em> time. mark reaches for his toes, stretching like a cat. his brain itches to yawn, heart longing to retire.</p><p> </p><p>he closes his eyes, staying in the present moment. he doesn't mind the rustling of the grass against the wind, or the pale cold conquering his palms, traveling up the nape of his neck. he knows that when he is here, all of that will subside.</p><p> </p><p>mark just wishes he didn't have to hide anymore, but it is ultimately his choice. he wants to be honest, but he doesn't want to feel alienated. even if he knows they'll behave like ripples in the water. he is in the center, they part away from him. isn't it better that way?</p><p> </p><p>11:32 PM. he has decided. that coming of age gay movies don't necessarily help with his worries. how much of that is reality, while the rest of it is fiction? <em>love, simon</em> did fuck him up. he cried for hours, then listened to tyler, the creator's <em>flower boy</em> and thought of donghyuck. as always.</p><p> </p><p>in contrast, donghyuck just thought of the whole movie as baloney, because he never experienced that sort of thing when he ended up coming out. for once, mark is thankful that he didn't watch it beside him. he would've bawled even harder on donghyuck's lap as he ranted on <em>reddit</em> that he wants a gay movie of asian representation to surface big in the industry, preferably starring the two of them.</p><p> </p><p>thinking about it some more, he changes his mind.</p><p> </p><p>11:44 PM. putting an end to mark's train of thoughts, <em>he</em> ruffles his mop of black hair and within the same second, begins a fire in his heart. lips curled into a grin as mark yelps an "ah!" and his hands instinctively find his, donghyuck flops on top of him on the baseball field grass. </p><p> </p><p>"my baby!" he exaggeratedly wails as he coddles mark's big head against his chest, dragging out the end of the word.</p><p> </p><p>mark is sheepishly beaming at the title as his arms naturally prepare to hold donghyuck as he continues his practiced lines, swaying a little bit. "i haven't seen you ever since you left on the 25th of june of the year 1950--" he abruptly stops to do the mental math before going on once more, "which was about 70 years ago!"</p><p> </p><p>mark scoffs with pink complimenting his cheeks, all too familiar with his antics. "babe, please, we saw each other in the halls earlier today. we have trig honors together."</p><p> </p><p>humming a "maybe so" in reply, he gently holds mark's head in his hands, peering down into his big doe eyes. donghyuck's thumb runs alongside the back of his ear affectionately. the older shudders, heart feeling like a toaster strudel that just came out of the oven. he begins to shut his eyes, bracing himself for some grossly sweet comment to leave the object of his demise's lips.</p><p> </p><p>instead, he leaves a sloppy kiss on the nape of his neck, leaving mark no reminder of the cold that left its territory there earlier. donghyuck melts all of it away, hands finding comfort between the gaps. mark can't help but giggle after he whining "gross!" although he secretly liked it.</p><p> </p><p>donghyuck rolls his eyes. "and you call me dramatic," he leans against mark's shoulder, squeezing his hand before bringing it up to his mouth and kisses his knuckles. mark thinks he loves him a bit more every minute. "how's your girlfriend by the way?"</p><p> </p><p>"for the last time, she's not my girlfriend!" mark exclaims, reaching into his back pocket to take out his phone. the sudden gleam hurts his eyes. 26 missed texts, 3 missed calls from kang mina. 11:57 PM.</p><p> </p><p>donghyuck takes the phone out of his grasp, muttering a "gimme that" trailed after the usual moody retort, "then why does she follow you around like a puppy in the halls?"</p><p> </p><p>"c'mon, you can't hold this against me forever. i literally went on one date with her about two weeks ago after being peer pressured by jaemin."</p><p> </p><p>"and when did we start doing all this?" he asks, unlocking mark's damned android.</p><p> </p><p>"umm, two weeks ago."</p><p> </p><p>"uh huh," donghyuck says flatly, scrolling through the relentless texts. mark looks at his face accentuated by his phone screen's pale glow like he's every good thing in the world. "that being said, i don't understand why you're still keeping her around... you're too nice, mark."</p><p> </p><p>when donghyuck meets mark's gaze, mark can tell he's visibly upset. lightning strikes in his body.</p><p> </p><p>"i don't think it's fair to mina, and i sure as hell don't think this is fair to me," he sighs exasperatedly. "like, i don't think you expect me to be here waiting forever until you get some balls to break things off with her?" he places a hand on mark's neck, and looks into his eyes. searching for an answer he can genuinely rely on. no more waiting, no empty promises.</p><p> </p><p>"just tell me what you want. you just gotta tell me."</p><p> </p><p>mark chews on his lip. he's never been easy on confrontation. and it's not like he's stupid, he knows what he wants. he just hates letting anybody down and hurting their feelings, so automatically, rejection is something that he isn't good at. he learned this through attending countless dates he never really took interest in, hundreds of minutes wasted.</p><p> </p><p>he gives too much of himself to others, renting pieces of his heart to others to take advantage of.</p><p> </p><p>taking all of this into consideration, it's clear to mark that there is nothing he is more sure of than donghyuck. he pulls the younger in closer to him, face nestled into his shoulder. he holds his whole world in his arms. "i'm sorry, i'll take care of it. i'll set things clear with her." he mumbles. "thank you for loving me."</p><p> </p><p>unpredictable, donghyuck thinks of mark. he can't help but to crack a smile and presses kisses onto him. the grass beneath them tickles their ankles tickles. they were always meant to be this way.</p><p> </p><p>12:04 AM. "silly boy. thank you for understanding me, and choosing me."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>HI HI HI basically this shit kinda cliche but. i like ryan beatty so much. pls go listen to the boy in jeans album cos da lyrics really got my creative juices flowing (gross Stfu nohyukc). expect to see some more works inspired by him later &lt;3</p><p>also pls let me know what you think about this fic!!!!! below!!! comment or else i. feel like discouraged</p><p>also i didnt get anybody to peer edit or umm. look after this as always cos i hate reading my own sh*t</p></blockquote></div></div>
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